


Goodbye my Love, and Shed No Tears

by Wickedrider98



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Blood, Character Death, Grief/Mourning, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Martin was never going to join the Lonely, and you may fight me on that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-14 00:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21006365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wickedrider98/pseuds/Wickedrider98
Summary: Jon reached the center of the tunnels too late.





	Goodbye my Love, and Shed No Tears

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from Ragnarok V: End of the Line by The Mechanisms

****

Peter lied. 

Well, Martin couldn't call this a lie on his part. He knew there was a way to escape the fate he was condemning himself to, but he didn't dare. No, he decided, better to die alone on the cold stone floor of the tunnels than live to feast on the trauma of others. Martin tried to sit up, to assess the gaping wound in his stomach, but flopped back to the floor as pain stabbed through his body. A small part of him longed to gather what little strength he had left and drag himself back to the Archives. He knew it was too late to save himself, but even to someone like him who had been so isolated for so long, the thought of dying alone sent a shiver down his spine. He just wanted someone, anyone to be with him now. To hold his hand until he was finally asleep, to show that he wasn't clinging to his last few moments of life in vain. But Martin knew hoping was futile. The only person who knew he was down here wasn't the kind to come to him, nor the one he wanted to comfort him in his last few moments. 

_ There's no use in drawing this out _ , he thought as his eyes started to droop shut,  _ no one's coming, I might as well just let it- _

"Martin!?" A desperate voice cut through the air, "Martin, are you down here?" 

"Jon?" Martin's voice was weak, "Jon! I'm here!" 

Quick footsteps grew closer to him, only to be followed by a "dear God!" as Jon knelt beside him. 

"Christ Martin," he whispered, "what have you done?" 

"I went to try to stop the Extinction," Martin struggled, "the center of the Tunnels, Peter said there was something there we needed. There was, but the thing guarding it, it wasn't happy about my presence."

He coughed, blood splattering onto the floor. 

"I don't have much time." 

"Don't think like that!" Jon was trying desperately to stop the bleeding from his stomach, "you'll be alright, I'll call an ambulance, please Martin just hang on a little longer…" 

Martin waved his suggestion away. 

"I've made my peace with it Jon," he placed a weakened hand on The Archivist's cheek,"I'm just… glad I got to see you. One last time." 

There were tears welling in the corners of Jon's eyes as he placed his hand over Martin's. 

"You could still… it wouldn't be ideal but you could…"

"I won't submit to the Lonely. I'd rather die here than give Peter that satisfaction. Just… stay with me? Until the end? It sounds ironic, given the last few months, but I don't want to do this alone." 

"Of course." Jon choked back a sob, "it's the least I can do."

He gently laced his fingers with Martin's, running comforting circles into the back of his palm while his other hand stroked his matted blonde hair. 

"I'm sorry," Jon whispered, "for how I treated you, for getting here too late, for everything."

"Don't focus on that now," Martin's eyes started to feel heavy, "it's in the past. Besides, I forgave you a long time ago."

Another stifled sob. 

"Martin, there's something I need to tell you," Jon murmured, "I know I should've realized this before, and I should've told you, but I-"

"I know Jon," he placed his thumb over the man's lips, "I've known for a while. And I love you too." 

Martin started to sit up again, fighting through the pain twisting in his stomach. 

"No!" Jon tried to stop him, "lay back down. Save your strength. Please."

"Let me do this." 

Jon gave in, helping him to sit with his back against the wall. Martin reached out and touched his face. 

"I wish we had more time," he whispered, "but I'm glad I get to spend this, these few moments with you before I…"

"Me too." Jon cut him off. He pressed a kiss into Martin's brow, "I'm glad I got to do that. Just once." 

"Jon," the blonde man gently brings his face back to his, "Kiss me." 

His lips press against Martin's, and for a brief second the world melts away around him. He focuses on the slight taste of cigarette smoke, the slightly chapped softness of Jon's lips. For a moment he sees what they could've been in a different life, one far away from monsters and nightmares. He catches a glimpse of the two of them laying together in bed, sunlight dancing across the covers as Jon naps on his chest. He sees the two of them, stood up in front of their friends as they swear to love each other until death do them part. Sweet fragments of dreams he'd held tight to for so long rush through his head, painful and pleasant all at the same time. He's glad this is what his final thoughts will be used on. Not on fear gods or sheer terror, but soft fantasies of the life he could've had with the man he loved. 

Martin heard Jon scream his name as he finally gave into the exhaustion weighing him down, his limp hand starting to fall from the man's face. 

_ I'm sorry Jon,  _ he thought as the embrace of death tightened its hold,  _ I love you, and I'll see you again someday. Just.. take your time, okay? _

He let go as Jon's sobbing form held his body, finally free of the Institute, of Peter's hold and free of fear. 

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact, I made myself cry writing this


End file.
